Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), The University of Hong Kong, June 30, 2007." Includes bibliographical references (p. 25-27). Also available in print.

This thesis examines cultural variations in time perception, as well as the possible influences on mental representation and decisions. Building on prior research on cultural differences in time-related perceptions, two main time perceptions were identified and focused on, namely temporal orientation and the use of time metaphor. The temporal orientation line of investigation explores the implications of a stronger future versus past orientation among English and Mandarin-speakers respectively. Based on Construal Level Theory, temporal orientation is expected to be related to psychological distance, which in turn affects the mental representations individuals form. The findings supported a stronger future orientation among English-speakers which is also evident in their mental representations that vary as a function of temporal orientation. However, Mandarin-speakers exhibited neither a strong past nor future orientation. A study examining the possible influence of temporal orientation on value judgment revealed a complex association between culture and value judgment. The time metaphor line of inquiry investigates the use of time metaphors among English and Mandarin-speakers and also the possible implications of such tendencies. Although previous psychological research implies a possible connection between the use of time metaphor and sense of personal control, this relationship is yet to be established. The findings showed supportive evidence of a frequent use of ego and time-moving metaphors among English and Mandarin-speakers respectively. However, studies examining the relationship between the use of time metaphor, perceived personal control, and decisions (optimism bias and risk-taking) revealed little supportive evidence of an association between them. The findings and a range of methodological and theoretical implications are discussed in the closing chapter.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on Sept.9, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Objective: To examine the perception of patient safety culture amongst health care workers in Libyan Hospitals. Study Design: The study adopted a mixed methods approach with 2 phases. Phase 1 was conducted prior to the Libyan revolution. This was a quantitative research study, which used the Survey of Hospital Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) that was developed by the US Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ, 2004). Phase 2 was conducted post revolution and it was a qualitative research study, which used semi-structured interviews. Setting: The three largest hospitals which were located in the Northeast of Libya were involved in the study. Participants and sampling: Phase 1 of the study included a stratified sample of 346 health care workers who were working as Doctors, Nurses, Technicians, Pharmacists and Managers. Phase 2 of the study used a purposeful sample which involved 27 health care workers from those took part in the survey study. Main Outcome Measures: The survey measured twelve Patient Safety Culture dimensions. It indicated that ten of the twelve dimensions were weak and need to be improved. The interview findings also showed that the 12 patient safety culture dimensions were very weak and shed light on some of the reasons for this sub-optimal practice. Findings: The respondents who took part in the study were from different departments in the three hospitals. The survey showed the dimensions with acceptable positive ratings were teamwork within hospitals and organizational learning and continuous improvement, while those with lowest ratings included frequency of reporting errors, non-punitive response to error and communication and openness. Approximately 60% of health care workers perceived patient safety culture practice in Libya negatively. Twenty respondents (5.8%) who gave an excellent grade for patient safety in their hospitals. Furthermore, the interviews results revealed that patient safety culture dimensions were very weak. The interview explored further factors and issues of poor safety culture in the 3 hospitals; which had not been identified in the survey. These were related to results of the political changes, administrative factors, environmental issues, organisational system issues, and health care workers matters. Conclusions: The study identified that the current state of patient safety culture in Libyan hospitals is very weak and there is a need for improvement to safety practice and for promotion of this important issue amongst those health care workers and health managers working at the frontline of health care delivery. Furthermore, the study found that the level of patient safety in the 3 hospitals was below an unacceptable level according to the perceptions of the health care staff. It was noted that there was no effective patient safety system in any of the 3 hospitals to deal with patient safety issues and there were no proactive patient safety measures in place to reduce the level of risk to patients. Furthermore, the study revealed other significant aspects that represent a serious threat to patient safety in the 3 hospitals, which were mainly due to poor hospital management, ineffective emergency services and a lack of training programmes. Moreover, poor organisation of monitoring systems for the licensing of medical practice of health care workers was shown to have a significant impact on patient safety culture. Lastly, the study showed the political change in Libya had affected patients’ safety sharply as result of the military conflict and the lack of hospitals’ preparedness to cope with such emergency events.

In the case of China, a rising great power, the question of adopting a democratic political system is not just a domestic issue, but has much broader implications for China's relations with the outside world, especially the United States. Whether Washington and Beijing continue to cohabitate without major conflict will depend in large part on the specific form of the regime that evolves in China and on the American perception of this regime. The research hypothesis of this paper proposes that in the event of a democratic transition, China will not adopt a liberal democracy, but a variation of democracy that will include meritocratic and communitarian aspects, due to the strong role of Confucian ethics and morals in influencing Chinese political culture. In an extreme case, China's "non- liberal" democracy may be perceived by the United States as a wholly undemocratic regime and hence, the presumed benign effects of democracy on state-to-state relations, such as "democratic peace", will become void. Yet, if China adopts a "non-liberal" democratic government that primarily strives to ensure "good governance" and if the United States is prepared to accept China as a "non- liberal" democracy, mutually beneficial and peaceful relations can be maintained. The first part of the paper focuses on defining...

Zugl.: Hannover, Univ., Diss.

Title: Výtvarná výchova ve školním vzdělávacím programu pro 2. stupeň základní školy Author: Bc. Kateřina Círová Department: Katedra výtvarné výchovy Supervisor: PhDr. Leonora Kitzbergerová, Ph.D. ABSTRACT The subject of my thesis is the creation of an art education curriculum for the sixth year at the second level of primary school. In the theoretical part of the thesis, I first analyze the concept of art education in terms of its development and changes over time. Then I analyze the concept of the visual field in relation to the structure of the curriculum within the characteristics of Art and Culture for the second level of basic education. I look deeper at creating educational content in relation to specified educational goals. In the last chapter of the theoretical portion, I define the concept of specific teaching methods for teachers of art education. In the practical part of my thesis, I apply the educational content of the field of art education to the program of teaching art education at the second level of primary school with regard to the teacher's conception of art education. In the empirical part, I focus on the reflexive practices of the teacher in the framework of action research. I emphasize the factors that influence the teacher's approach to teaching. I present the...

Le réalisme pictural peut être conçu, par-delà la pensée ontologique dualiste, comme expérience perceptive cognitive du spectateur d’avoir l’impression de voir le « réel » dans une configuration imagée picturale. Cette impression de réel n’est pas illusoire, mais subjectivement factuelle, sans être nécessairement consciente. Elle pourrait résulter de la facilité perceptive ou de la fluidité opérationnelle du processus perceptif cognitif. Lorsque l’activité perceptive cognitive opérante dans l’expérience du réalisme pictural est régulée par la valence hédonique immanente à cette fluidité opérationnelle sous-jacente à l’impression de réel, cette expérience « subjective » peut être également « esthétique » pour cette autosuffisance fonctionnelle de la « conduite cognitive » du spectateur. Cependant, l’expérience du réalisme pictural comporte une dimension anthropo-transculutrelle, comme on peut le constater notamment dans les récits littéraires des spectateurs coréens du 18e siècle qui illustrent leurs expériences visuelles des peintures occidentales « illusionnistes » réalisées par des missionnaires jésuites à Pékin. La culture est néanmoins opérante dans l’expérience « esthétique » du réalisme pictural. Son effet est double. D’une part, la culture fonctionne comme une des variables de la fonction complexe de l’apprentissage perceptif qui pourrait modifier la dynamique du processus perceptif cognitif ainsi que l’attention perceptive visuelle. D’autre part, elle pourrait opérer un effet dans la valence hédonique globale en participant à la modélisation de l’« affect idéal » distingué de l’« affect effectif ». / The pictorial realism can be conceived, beyond ontological dualistic thought, as beholder’s perceptual cognitive experience to have the impression of seeing the “real” in a picture. This impression or feeling of real is not illusory, but subjectively factual, without being necessarily conscious. It may result from perceptual easiness or from perceptual cognitive processing fluency. When the perceptual cognitive activity working in the pictorial realism experience is regulated by hedonic valence immanent in this processing fluency that underlies the impression of real, this subjective experience can also be “aesthetic” by functional self-sufficiency of beholder’s “cognitive conduct”. However, the experience of pictorial realism contains an anthropo-transcultural dimension, as we can observe especially in the stories written by 18th century Korean beholders, which illustrate their visual experiences of the western “illusionist” paintings produced by jesuit missionary painters in Beijing. Nevertheless, the culture comes into play in the “esthetic experience” of pictorial realism. Its effect is double. On the one hand, the culture acts as one of the variables of the complexe function of perceptual learning which could make difference in the perceptual cognitive processing dynamics and in the visual or perceptual attention. On the other hand, the culture might influence the global state of hedonic valence by participating in the modeling of “ideal affect” distinguished from “actual affect”.